(Morning Call (Allentown, PA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 17--At Body Worlds 2 & The Brain, which kicks off an 18-week engagement at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute today, you'll find amazing lessons in anatomy.

But what may surprise you is that while browsing through the fascinating exhibit of science, you might also feel, at times, like you're in a museum of art.

Twenty full-body human specimens, in particular, are more artistic than medical in nature -- posed like sculptures in activities from ballet to soccer to gymnastics.

When they are illuminated inside glass cases, you can't help but admire the beauty of muscles as they stretch for each pose. However, faces, particularly the eyes, provide a solemn reminder that these are not synthetic sculptures but humans who donated their bodies for this educational cause.

The 600 skeletal muscles that lie just below the skin play a large role in the way we look. They also make up the largest portion of our tissue -- about 23 percent of body weight for women and 40 percent for men.

What's amazing is that the muscles on these bodies look incredibly well toned although many of the donors were elderly.

Disease and deterioration is evident in some of the more than 200 other specimens on display in the 20,000-square-foot exhibit. Healthy and diseased organs, cross sections and body portions reveal things that can happen to our bodies through poor health, good health and lifestyle choices.

These cross-sections of open abdomens, chests and brains are truly an anatomy lesson. You'll see lungs blackened by smoking or overtaken by metastasized cancer. You'll also view a healthy aorta next to one with an aneurism and one with cholesterol buildup, or atherosclerosis. And, you'll see cancer that has metastasized in the lungs, fibroid tumors in the uterus and a brain reduced in size by Alzheimer's disease.

The exhibition is made possible through Plastination -- a revolutionary process that preserves the human body by removing fluids and soluble fat from its tissue and infusing a plastic in its place.

Some of the full-body models are artificially expanded to reveal internal body parts -- joints and organs such as the brain, heart, liver and intestines -- in healthy and unhealthy states.

For comparison, you'll also see a Plastinated camel and the circulatory system of a chicken.

It was the potential to teach lessons such as these that was the inspiration for Body Worlds.

German scientist Gunther von Hagens was a physician and anatomy instructor in 1977 when he began developing the Plastination process as a better way to teach physiology to medical students. He realized a public exhibit would be a great tool to help people appreciate and understand the human body.

"My husband and I wish to show the beauty of the body's interior to those who wish to see it," says Dr. Angelina Whalley, von Hagens' wife and the exhibit's creative designer, who was at this week's preview for the press.

There are now six different Body Worlds exhibits, traveling in Europe, Asia and North America. They have attracted more than 28 million visitors since hitting the museum circuit 14 years ago.

Whalley, who trained to be a surgeon, says she "originally hoped to cure patients one at a time, but Body Worlds has allowed me to do something different -- to do preventive medicine. To teach people how vulnerable and fragile our bodies are, but at the same time, how resilient and forgiving." She's still moved when the exhibit, which compares a smoker's black lung to a healthy one, "helps teenagers realize that smoking is no longer cool, and when I see young women looking at the prenatal collection and experiencing prenatal life for the very first time." One section of the Body Worlds 2 exhibit features a pregnant woman with a baby in her abdomen, as well as babies and embryos at various weeks of development.

The original Body Worlds came to The Franklin Institute in 2005 and stayed six months, drawing more than 603,000 visitors and breaking attendance records. Tickets are selling quickly for Body Worlds 2, outpacing sales from the 2005 engagement.

Body Worlds 2 is a new presentation, featuring 200 new specimens, with a focus on the role the brain plays in our body's function.

"To me, the brain has always been the most intriguing organ in our body because no other organ shapes you more. It defines who you are," says Whalley.

You'll see the network of blood vessels in the brain and learn how the brain develops from an infant to a toddler. And you'll learn how all our movements originate in the brain.

Body Worlds relies on the generosity of donors. All full-body plastinates and the majority of specimens are from donors. And donating is becoming increasingly popular, with a list of more than 10,000 people signed up to donate. Plastinated body identities are not revealed, both as a way of respecting donor privacy and of helping museum visitors better relate to the bodies on display.

Although Body Worlds 2 is tastefully presented, children or squeamish adults might be disturbed by some aspects of the exhibit, in which all models are anatomically correct. Children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult.

"Two years ago, there were those who saw it and those who were too squeamish," says Dennis Wint, Franklin Institute's president, who hopes this time that at least some of the "squeamish" will give it a try.

"By walking through the exhibition and seeing these authentic specimens ? it becomes obvious our bodies are not just a divine gift or a bounty of nature," says Whalley. "Our bodies are our lifelong responsibility and whatever we do to it, it matters." irene.kraft@mcall.com 610-820-6597 BODY WORLDS 2 & THE BRAIN What: An exhibit of donated human bodies and parts preserved by the process of Plastination.

When: Opens today. Continues through Feb. 28, 2010. Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, with final entry at 7:30 p.m.

Where: The Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St., Philadelphia.

How much: Daytime: Includes admission to entire museum. Adults, $27.00; children (ages 4-11), $19.80; military, student with ID and senior (62 and older), $24.75.

Evening: Admission to Body Worlds 2 only (5 p.m. or later with last entry at 7:30). Adults, $18.00; children (4-11) $13.75; military, student with ID and senior (62 and older), $16.75. (Children under 13 must be accompanied by adult.) Audio guides: Additional $5 for adults and $3 for children 4-11.

Order online at www2.fi.edu/bodyworlds2; call 877-TFI-TIXS.

Tip: Buy tickets in advance to be sure you can visit on your preferred date and time.

Parking: $12 for up to 5 hours at museum garage at 21st and Winter streets. Limited space for vans, trucks, SUVs.

Info: 215-448-1200 or www2.fi.edu/bodyworlds2 PHOTOS, VIDEO, POLL Photo gallery and video at the exhibit Poll: Is it respectful to display preserved bodies? themorningcall.com To see more of The Morning Call, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mcall.com.

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